Browsing: Fort Carson

A recent news report says Mexican drug cartels are recruiting from the military ranks. An article on FOXNews.com is sounding the alarm on drug cartels recruiting hit men from the Army. The article makes its case on the apprehension of three former Army soldiers in the last several years. FOXNews.com mentions the recent sentencing of Michael Apodaca, a private first class who was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas. He did a hit for a drug cartel and was sentenced to life in prison July 25. Apodaca was first arrested for the contract killing in 2009. The article also mentions a…

This video, which went viral last week after its posting on YouTube, is the head cam work of Pfc. Ted Daniels of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, Colo., the Denver Post confirmed with the brigade’s PAO. The exchange took place in Afghanistan’s Kunar province on April 25. According to the video’s description, Daniels took four gunshots, but none penetrated his body armor and he was able to return to duty after treatment. The footage is part of an ongoing documentation effort of the war in Afghanistan. For more videos, check out http://funker530.prochan.com/ …

Pfc. David “Smiley” Lawrence, the soldier accused of murdering a shackled Taliban commander, nodded off several times during a hearing that will determine if the Army puts him on trial. His attorney says the 20-year-old Fort Carson, Colo., GI is strung out on drugs to battle schizophrenia and isn’t mentally fit to stand trial. Lawrence’s platoon sergeant testified Lawrence announced he would, “do something in the next 20 minutes that you are too pussy to do.” “He said, ‘I killed him,'” Staff Sgt. Dominic Buscemi, testified. “I said, ‘Killed who?’ and he said, ‘The guy in the cell.'” [via The…

The father of a 101st CAB staff sergeant found with a gunshot wound to the head is filled with questions about his son’s death, but Army CID released few details and about the case and declined to provide a time frame for more answers. David Senft, 27, was found dead in a vehicle on Kandahar Airfield on Nov. 15 in a “non-combat incident.” The father is baffled why his son would commit suicide; he had been treated after previous suicide attempts, but he was just married, was recently promoted and loved his five-year-old son. Senft, a crew member of Lt.…

Several soldiers from the 4/23 Battalion, who confessed to using steroids, estimated that more than half the unit of some 700 soldiers had sampled steroids, according to investigative documents obtained by The Seattle Times under the federal Freedom of Information Act. One soldier had a scheme for continuing steroid use in Afghanistan through the receipt of mail-order packages that would disguise the drugs in lotion packets. [via Seattle Times] Soldiers accused of breaking into a Colorado medical marijuana dispensary and then accidentally locking themselves inside told police they planned to destroy the marijuana — not smoke or sell it. [via…

Keeping it real went wrong for a Fort Carson, Colo., civilian resident now charged with shooting workers at a Burger King on post and a Cricket in town during two robberies. Joshua Bodean Smith, 20, reportedly told the clerk at the Cricket, “I ain’t playin’,” before shooting him in the shoulder and emptying the cash register. He faces federal charges and up to 30 years in jail. The Army was holding Smith’s girlfriend, identified as Pfc. Bianca M. Soto, who federal authorities say acted as Smith’s getaway driver. [via Colorado Springs Gazette] A Colorado jury convicted former soldier Marcus Hightower,…

The mother of a private first class from Boise accused in the Stryker “rogue platoon” case said she blames the Army “for putting psychopaths in charge of the unit.” The soldier was due in court today. [via The Olympian of Olympia, Wash.] Three Fort Carson, Colo., soldiers in masks broke into a medical marijuana dispensary and locked themselves in. Colorado Springs cops surrounded the store — Rocky Road Remedies — let them out and arrested them. Surveillance video shows their frantic and comical efforts to escape. [via KMGH-TV] The trial of three people accused of selling weapons to a white…